Quick-opening door for vulcanizers.



J. K. WILLIAMS. QUICK OPENING DOOR FOB. VULOANIZEBS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 23, 1910.

Patented N 0v. 29, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

' J. K. WILLIAMS. QUICK OPENING DOOR FOR VULCANIZERS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 23, 1910. 1 976,969. Patented Nov. 29, 1910.

2 BHEETS8HBET 2.

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JOHN K. WILLIAMS,

OF AKRON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO THE WILLIAMS FOUNDRY AND MACHINECOMPANY, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

QUICK-OPENING DOOR FOR VULOANIZERS.

erases.

Application filed. June 23, 1910. Serial No. 568,581.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN K. WILLIAMS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Akron, in the county of Summit and State of Ohio, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Quick-Opening Doors forVulcanizers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to quick-opening doors for vulcanizers and theobject thereof is to provide a door constituting a closure member forthe open end of a vulcanizer or analogous receptacle, so constructedthat it may be shifted from a closed or operative position to an open orinoperative position, or vice versa easily and quickly in order to savetime and labor. Heretofore doors of this class have been secured to thebody of the vulcanizer by various means, all of which require theexpenditure of a considerable amount of time in effecting a perfectclosure of the open end of the vulcanizer, and as these closure membersand the vulcanizer are heated intensely hot, great care is necessary inhandling them to prevent injury to the operatives.

A further object of the invention is to provide means to permit theshifting of the door from its inoperative or open position to its closedor operative position accurately, with a minimum expenditure of manuallaher, said means embodying guides capable of permitting movement of thedoor radially with respect to the longitudinal axis of the vulcanizerbody and so arranged that when the cover is moved to its operative orclosed position it will always accurately register with the opening inthe end of the vulcanizer body.

A still further object of the invcntion is to provide a packing elementfor forming a fluid-tight joint between the inner face of the closuremember and the opening to the vulcanizer body for hermetically sealingthe latter, said packing element arranged to be brought into operativerelation for sealing the joint between the closure member and thevulcanizer body and held there by the pressure of the agent used forvulcanizing the articles within the body of the vulcanizer.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists inthe novel construction, combination and arrangement of partsconstituting the invention to be hereinafter specifically described andillustrated in the accompanying drawings which form a part hereofwherein is shown the preferred embodiment of the invention, but it is tobe understood that changes, variations and modifications can be resortedto which come within the scope of the claims hereunto appended.

In the drawings, in which similar reference numerals indicate like partsin the different figures: Figure 1 is a view in elevation of the frontend of a vulcanizer showing the closure member therefor in itsinoperative position. Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation of the deviceshown in Fig. 1 looking from the right thereof; and, Fig. 3 is anenlarged, vertical, central, sectional view of the device shown in Fig.1 with the closure member for the vulcanizer in its closed position withportions thereof broken away.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the reference numeral 1 denotes thebody por tion of a vulcanizer, which is preferably cylindrical and of alength sufiicient to accommodate the articles to be vulcanized therein.The rear end of the vulcanizer (not shown) is closed and the front endwhich is shown in the drawings is open. Mounted on the open end of thevulcanizer is a member embodying a body portion 2 provided with acentral opening 3 and from the rear of which extends an annular flange 4arranged to telescope the open end of the vulcanizer body 1 and securedin position thereon through the medium of rivets 5. On each side of thebody portion, 2 is an upright 6 provided with a groove, said groovesbeing parallel with and opposed to each other and constituting ways fora purpose to be later described. Mounted on each of the uprights 6 is anextension 7 the inner opposing faces of which are provided with groovesregistering with the grooves in the uprights 6 on which they are mountedand forming extensions thereof. The upper ends of uprights 6 and thelower ends of extensions 7 are provided with laterallyextendingapertured lugs 8 arranged in registering relation with each other whenthe device is set up and united together through the medium of holdfastdevices 9 positioned in the apertures in said lugs. The lower part ofthe body portion 2 is provided with a forwardly-projectinghorizontally-extending lip 10 formed with a flange 11 arranged parallelwith the face of said body portion, the space between the flange 11 andthe front face of the body portion 2 constituting a groove in alinementwith the grooves in the uprights 6, for a purpose to be later described.The upper portion of the body portion 2 is formed to constitute atransverse upwardly-extending ridge 12.

Shiftablyanounted in the grooves in the uprights 6 and extensions? is adoor 13 in the central portion of which is an opening it surrounded byan integral forwardlyprojecting flange 15 to the inner face of which issecured by holdfast devices 16 a convexly-formed cap 17 the size andshape of which approximates the opening 3 in the body portion 2. Theupper port-ion of the door 13 is bent rearwardly and downwardly to forma lip 18 which latter extends from the rear face of the door to form atransversely-extending groove or channel 19.

Z Mounted above the door 13 onsome support such as beam 20 are a pair ofgrooved sheaves 21. Secured in the upper face of the lip 18 are a pairof eye-bolts 22 or their equivalents, to each of which is secured a ropeor cord 23, each passing over and seating in the groove in one of thesheaves-21 and each provided at its lower end with a counterweight24,,the combined weight of the counterweights 2st substantiallycounterbalancing the weight of the door 13 so as to permitverticalshifting of the latter in the grooves in the uprights 6 and extensions 7with little or no manual effort on the part of the operator. The door13, when shifted to its upper position, as shown in Fig. 1, leaves theopening 3 in the body portion 2 entirely unobstructed to permit readyaccess to the interior of the vulcanizer 1 and when lowered toits'closed or operative position effectually seals the opening 3 andconstitutes a closure device therefor, and'when in this latter position,the lower end 25 of the door 13wil'l be received in the groove in thelip10 formed by-the flange 11 at the lower end of the body portion 2, andthe rearwardly-turned lip 18 formed at the upper portion of the door 13will interlock with the upwardly-projecting flange 12 formed at theupper part of the body portion 2 so that both the upper and lower endsof the door 13 are held against movement, and as the side edges areseated in the grooves in the uprights 6 and extensions 7 movement of thedoor under the pressure of fluid employed .in the body portion 1 for thepurpose of vulcanization is thereby prevented. v

In order to form 'a hermetically-tight joint between the rear face ofthe door 13 andthe front face of the body portion 2, one of theseabutting faces, preferably the body portion 2, is provided with anannular groove 26, in which is mounted a packing element 27 having inits rear face an annular U- shaped groove 28, and the outer orprojecting portion of the packing element, that is to say the portionwhich engages the rear face of the door 13 is provided with aninwardlyprojecting wedgeshaped integral flange 29. The part of the bodyportion 2 positioned within the annular groove 26 is cut away to providea circular space 30 and the portion immediately within the groove 26 isbeveled at 31 to provide an annular space to receive the flange 29 ofthe packing element 27. Connecting with the annular groove 26 is a duct32 in the outer end of 0 which is secured a fluid-conducting pipe Theoperation of the device is somewhat as follows: The door 13 is shiftedto its open or inoperative position, as shown in Fig. 1, and thearticles to be vulcanized are con- 35 veyed through the opening 3 intothe body portion 1 of the vulcanizer. The door 13 is then shifted to itsoperative or closed position by hand which is easily accomplished due tothe fact that the weight thereof is counterbalanced by the weights 24.Then a fluid such as air, water or steam is introduced through the duct32 and pipe 33 into the groove 26, the pressure of which against thewalls of the U-shaped groove 28 will drive the packing element outwardlyinto contact with the rear face of the door 13 and constitute atemporary fluid-tight closure member for the opening 3, after which avulcanizingagent such as live steam is introduced to the interior of thevulcanizer body to cause vulcanization of any article contained therein.The vulcanizing agent will pass into the space 30 and engage the innerface of the wedge-shaped flange 29 of the packing element, in doingwhich it presses this wedge-shaped portion outwardly to cause it to formin connection with the rear face of the door 13 a hermetically-tightjoint which will be maintained as long as the pressure of thevulcanizing agent is employed in the vulcanizer. When it is desired toopen the vulcanizer the pressure of the vulcanizing agent is withdrawnand the door raised to its open or inoperative position by hand, leavingthe opening 3 unobstructed for the removal of the vulcanized articles.

I claim-- 1. The combination with a receptacle for containing a fluidunder pressure and a radially-shiftable closure member therefor, one ofwhich is provided with an annular groove in the face thereof whichopposes the other member, of a packing ring mounted in said groove andprovided with an inwardlyextending wedge-shaped integral flange arrangedto be forced against the cotiperating member by the fluid under pressurecontainedin said receptacle.

2. The combination with a receptacle for containing a fluid underpressure and a radially-shiftable closure member therefor, one of whichis provided with an annular groove in the face thereof which opposes theother member, of a packing ring mounted in said groove and provided inits rear face with a groove or channel and a duct communicating withsaid groove in the rear of said packing ring for forcing the latteroutwardly into snug engagement with the cooperating member.

3. The combination with a receptacle for containing a fluid underpressure and a radially-shiftable closure member therefor, one of whichis provided with an annular groove in the face thereof which opposes theother member, of a packing ring mounted in said groove and provided withan inwardly-extending wedge-shaped integral flange at its outer portionand having in its inner or rear face a circumferentiallyextending grooveor channel and a duct communicating with said annular groove in the rearof said packing ring to admit a fluid under pressure for forcing saidpacking ring into snug engagement with the cooperating member forforming a fluid-tight joint.

l. The combination with a receptacle for containing a fluid underpressure and a radially-shiftable closure member therefor, one of whichis provided with an annular groove in the face thereof which opposes theother member, a portion of the groove-bearing member being cut awaywithin said groove to provide a space between said member and thecomplementary member, of a packing ring mounted in said groove andprovide with an inwardly-extending wedge-shaped integral flangepositioned in said space to permit the fluid in said receptacle toengage the rear face of said wedge-shaped flange for forcing it intosnug engagement with said complementary member for forming a fluid-tightjoint therewith.

5. The combination with a receptacle for containing a fluid underpressure and a radially shiftable closure member therefor, guiding meansfor said closure member, said receptacle provided in the end thereofwhich opposes the closure member with an annular groove, of a packingring mounted in said groove and provided with an inwardly-extendingwedge-shaped integral flange at its outer portion and a ductcommunicating with said annular groove in the rear of said packing ringto admit a fluid under pressure for forcing said packing ring into snugengagement with the closure member for forming a fluid-tight joint.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

JOHN K. WILLIAMS.

Witnesses:

C. E. HUMPHREY, GLENARA Fox.

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